Final Fantasy Omega

Tomogara

Appearance

Tomogara is unique among Aeons in that she remains in the world of Damocles when unsummoned, and has never had a materia orb associated with her. When summoned, she is a huge battlecat, roughly the size of a large tiger. Her fur is off-white with black paws and ears, a black diamond-shaped marking on her forehead, and rings of black fur around the ends of her two tails. Fire rings her tails and paws, and her front fangs extend past the edge of her jaw. Her eyes are a deep orange and very large, and the fur around her neck is thicker than elsewhere on her body, forming a natural ruff that protects her throat from attackers. She can fly for short distances in this form, and can carry up to three people on her back.

When unsummoned, Tomogara takes the form of a kitten, and is small enough to ride around in the hood of Naoko’s sweatshirt or in her messenger bag. Her general appearance is the same as when summoned, minus the fangs and fire.

Fighting Style

Like all big cats (and like her summoner), Tomogara is a brawler. With abilities focusing on pouncing, grabbling, and raking the enemy with her claws, she excels at overpowering weaker enemies and preventing their escape. She is also immune to fire damage, and can deal it out with a few specialized abilities. Her overdrive, Hibashira, sends a tornado of fire whirling at her opponent, doing continuous fire damage unless the enemy takes the time to put the flames out.

History

Tomogara’s origins were a mystery for many years, and even now are not fully explained. Naoko’s memory of their meeting is that while out for a walk at age 11, Naoko simply found the kitten and took her home, discovering her powers as an Aeon shortly thereafter and becoming her summoner. Naoko’s uncle Romaji filled in the gaps in Naoko’s memory some years later: Naoko had actually been attacked by imps while on that walk, and before Romaji could reach her, Naoko fell unconscious. While passed out, Tomogara, in full battlecat form, whirled into being and fought the imps off, shrinking down to kitten size when the battle was over. It seems that, in that life-or-death moment, Naoko’s innate summoning ability came to power and she summoned Tomogara through pure force of will. The cat has been her constant companion ever since.

When Naoko and Kogel first encountered the Nameless One on Verraten, it was the presence of Tomogara that caused him to realize they were not enemies. He referred to her as “the two-tailed cat of Madain Sari”, and explained that such cats were native Aeons of the island but were exceedingly rare. The reappearance of one meant that Naoko was the legendary summoner that had so long been predicted.

Tomogara’s mysteries were not yet fully uncovered, though: when Naoko used a materia orb given to her by her uncle to summon Madain for the first time, it was revealed that Madain was actually the ascended form of Tomogara herself. This connection has not been fully explained, and may be beyond the abilities of current Aeon knowledge to do so.

Other

Naoko summons all Aeons without materia, but Tomogara is the only one of her Aeons that remains present in an unsummoned form. She was also Naoko’s first Aeon, and as such has very strong connection to her, stronger even than Naoko’s bonds with her other Aeons. Tomogara can sense when Naoko is in danger across great distances—even across dimensions. The cat even forced her own summoning on one occasion to alert Kogel to Naoko’s distress, and somehow managed to journey into Naoko’s pocket dimension with her.

For all her legendary qualities, Tomogara is still very much a cat. She hunts bugs, purrs, demands tummy rubs, and uses her claws to get attention if the need arises. She has a wary friendship with the other First Aeon of the party, Chocobot, allowing them to work together in battle.